Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Feb 16, 2017 Kristin rated it did not like it

Have you ever read a book and wonder through the vast majority of it 'what the heck is going on?' That's how this book made me feel, it was so disjointed and weird that I actually read about a quarter of it 3 years ago and decided it was such utter rubbish that I moved on. As I was having some personal issues 3 years ago, I thought perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind then to read it, but I can say for sure now the problem was with the book and not me.
I was a senior in high school on Have you ever read a book and wonder through the vast majority of it 'what the heck is going on?' That's how this book made me feel, it was so disjointed and weird that I actually read about a quarter of it 3 years ago and decided it was such utter rubbish that I moved on. As I was having some personal issues 3 years ago, I thought perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind then to read it, but I can say for sure now the problem was with the book and not me.
I was a senior in high school on 9/11, so I remember that day vividly, and thus the plot of this book, a child on a mission to figure out the meaning of a key his father left behind before he died in the terrorist attacks, sounded promising. Oskar, the child, is clearly somewhere on the autism spectrum, and as narrator of over 1/3 of this book, he tells his story as I expect a high-functioning autistic child would, jumping around from topic to topic at random, using phrases he coined himself to help him understand the world (but not ones we as readers would recognize), and staying fixated on minor details. This doesn't make for good reading though.
If Oskar isn't confusing enough, the other 2/3 or so of the book are letters written by two people, one being Oskar's grandmother, writing letters to Oskar about her childhood and that of his father; the other being a mystery man who is now mute, but not deaf, telling of his lost love when Dresden, Germany was bombed during World War II and that because he can no longer speak (although it's not elaborated on how he lost his words), he uses books on which he writes one sentence per page for his half of a conversation. Guess what's in THIS book (yeah, the one I'm writing a review of)? Examples of the guy's one-sentence-per-page writings. Even these letters don't make sense. He writes about saving his typewriter during the bombing and giving it to his new wife in America, who proceeds to type out her memoir on it. However, he took out the ribbon out a while ago, but the woman is blind and can't see that she isn't typing anything on the pages. Yet this is the same woman he converses with via his notebooks, so she obviously can see to know what he is telling her. I just don't get it, especially once the connection among the 3 narrators is established.
Oh, and that whole key story, the one that forms the basis of the book, don't expect a heartwarming ending or some mystery solved, just a big dud, fitting for this dud of a book. ...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: year-2012

This book is a haunting meditation on grief and loss and trying to make sense of the things that are senseless. But it's also a book about life and the connections we make with our families, our community and complete strangers. I don't know why I've shied away from Jonathan Safran Foer but he's an author worth picking up. ...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Sam rated it really liked it

I gave this book a second chance after I saw the movie and cried my eyes out. The second time really was a charm for this cryptically written modern fairy tale of grief and redemption. Safran-Foers writing is to-the-point truth at times and I love his over-the-top believable characters.

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May 04, 2013 Anna rated it really liked it

Touching. Really enjoyed this book.

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Apr 04, 2011 Celeste rated it liked it

I would have given this book four stars if the ending would have been more satisfying. I love love the way it's written. It's poetic and deep and it made me look at 9/11 in a way that I have never let myself think about before. I found myself laughing out loud the first part of the book and then reading the funny parts to Pete. Well written. ...more

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Apr 05, 2010 Leslie Jerkins rated it really liked it

Extremely sharp and clever, while also making me want to cry at every turn, in a good way. A different-for-me, more fleshed-out take on what we collectively went through on 9/11.

Also, we moved while I read this, which is why it took me so freaking long.

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Mar 12, 2008 Korie Brown rated it it was amazing

One of the best books I have ever read. It's been a few years, and portions of the book still float to the top of my brain on some days. Absolutely amazing. ...more

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